Every time I looked at him during the game, he seemed lost and depleted. I know he is a rookie and hope he does not get bothered much by not getting to the QB. If the teams are scheming for him, half the battle is won. I hope coaches talk to him and tell him he has done well and just keep at it. Confidence breeds success, you only learn and become better as time goes on. I hope he feels okay and upbeat as we need all of the players to be excited, play hard and have fun winning!

They're are a lot of H8Rs around here. Bruce is doing just fine, I agree with all those who believe he knows exactly where is and isn't lost at all. He's a rookie and makes a few rookie mistakes but QBs have to be aware of him on the edge. Getting around the corner will come once he learns not to get pushed past where he needs to go.

Becoming an effective pass rusher is a tough thing to do. Some take a few seasons to know how to play their positions. One thing that is indisputable he is very very fast. He will need to gain some bulk to be more effective but he's a DC's nightmare b/c of his speed.

Until we develop a pass rush that will cause opposing teams to be forced to scheme to defend it we will never be able to completely take the final step. That was done and the final step was taken. The OLine still needs work.

We draft a rookie who picks up 8 sacks playing on the opposite side of a pass rush specialist and people are griping. Plus we just improved by 4 games. I guess if it takes some digging to have something to complain about in order to keep people "happy" then so be it. Whatever.

We all knew the story on Irvin coming out of WV. Even prior to the draft he, and everyone else, described him as "fast but raw". The report was he did not get sufficient (or significant) coaching at WV. With that, once drafted I said I don't want excuses, raw or not, if he don't get 8 sacks, he was picked too high.

He got those sacks but more importantly, despite his reported character issues, I witnessed an agro kid with incredible speed and as important, a frikin non-stop motor.

Watching him struggle in the pre-season, his moves were limited but I think he played about every down and never let up. I've now seen this for 16 (more) games. That's 20 games for a raw kid fresh out of college. He is likely spent at this point and who could fault him there? I think he's going to be a force in this league. Very happy with him thus far.

We didnt draft Irvin to be an every down play 100+ tackles a game kind of guy.

I think people forget this, we drafted him to be a 3rd and 10 burner to the QB type of player. He is only a rookie and can only improve the next couple seasons (which I expect him to do). I think he is going to eventually be a stud.

And if he turns out to be a flop so what? Considering who we have drafted the past couple years in the mid rounds I think 1 first round dud really isn't a whole lot.

Our pass rush is not "bad", just not "complete". Without blitzing we almost never have pressure up the middle.

Irvin has done well, even if he did not finish with double digit sacks. My eyes go to him on almost every play he is in (old d-end).Bruce gets free and "gets there" incredibly often. I'd love to know how many hurries/hits he has. Problem when he gets there is that half a step up in the pocket puts the qb out of reach. He will get better. ANY interior pressure would increase our sack/hurry numbers dramatically IMO.

Look at pass rushers around the league. It is really tough for any one player to keep an effective rush going all game long- it simply requires an incredible energy expenditure and no one can do it effectively every play or all game long.

Also look at careers of top pass rushers. Most are not on top for long. Its a tough job, and only an elite few can string together more than two or three high sack years before they slow down and eventually breakdown.

Basically, I see no need to worry about pass rush. Although the monster 3-tech would help tremendously. How many sacks does Aldon Smith have without Justin disrupting? Bruce and Clem need a "Justin".

It is clear that opposing teams prepare for Bruce and he takes out the Tackle every play. He is learning new moves, adding an inside rush down the middle and dropping into coverage. If we did not have Bruce our defense would be much much worse on third downs.